Crista McHugh - The Sweetest Seduction

“I am, but I could make time for you if you’d be willing to make time for me.” He released her chin and pulled her into his arms. “That is, if you want to see me again.”

How could she say no when her body was already craving wicked things with his? “I think I could find some time for you.”

“That’s just what I wanted to hear.” He gave her a cocky grin before lowering his mouth to hers once again.

Lia laughed in spite of herself. Adam apparently did always get what he wanted, and she’d fallen right into his hands. Of course, if those hands continued what they’d started on the boat, then she was in for a fun ride while it lasted.

Two deep barks came from the house, and a flash of white raced along the dock toward them. Lia’s muscles locked, preparing for Jasper’s impact.

“No, no!” Adam moved in front of her to shield her from the Great Pyrenees. “Down, boy!”

But Jasper refused to listen. He pounced on them. Lia stumbled back. Her foot hit air. Then the cold water of the lake enveloped her.

Adam drummed his finger against the back of his iPad while Bates navigated traffic along Michigan Avenue. Last night had been a disaster of epic proportions, but once he retrieved Lia from the lake, she’d still been willing to give him her phone number. She’d even entered it into his phone so he wouldn’t lose it. Not that he would. He’d never had a woman turn him on like she did. One kiss, and he was gone.

“I apologize for the traffic, Mr. Kelly. We should be there in a few minutes.”

“Take your time, Bates. I’m just thinking about other things.” Like when he should call Lia. As much as he itched to finish what they’d started last night, he didn’t want to appear to be a complete sleaze who was only interested in sex. Not that he didn’t want it. But he also enjoyed her company enough to be willing to carve out time in his busy schedule for her, and that said a lot.

And he wanted to make time for her—almost as much as he wanted Amadeus Schlittler to open a restaurant in his building.

“The space I mentioned yesterday is already occupied by a restaurant, so Mr. Schlittler will have no trouble converting it to his needs.”

“Good to know.” And even better that Bates had already scouted out the location for him and seen to all the details. “You said the tenant only had a couple of months left on the lease?”

“Yes, sir. She’s subleasing the space after that dessert bar was forced to close, and has requested her own lease. Even though you’re not going to offer it to her, I’m sure she’ll appreciate the fact you wanted to deliver the news personally.”

“If I’m not going to renew her lease, I suppose she’ll want to know why.” He shifted in his seat. Confrontations always made him edgy, but he’d learned over the years that it was better to deliver bad news in person and then point tenants to his staff to handle any of their concerns. It was messy up front, but almost always resulted in a good outcome in the end. “What’s her name again?”

“Ms. Mantovani.”

He shifted in his seat again. The Italian name resurrected his memories of Lia and how she’d murmured naughty-sounding things in that language while his tongue swirled around her sweet little nipple. His cock stiffened, and he pulled out his phone, wondering how much time would need to pass before it was safe to call her.

Bates turned into the parking garage under the building and keyed in his entry code.

Adam adjusted his tie and erased Lia from his mind. He didn’t need to go into a meeting with a tent pole in his pants.

An elevator took them from the parking garage to the lobby. This was the last building his father had commissioned, but he’d died four months before it was finished. Still, Adam saw little pieces of his father in the building, from the marble tile to the rich mahogany of the receptionist’s desk. But since it was also the first property Adam had completed as head of the family business, he’d had added his own touches to it, such as the Chihuly glass sculptures that hung from the lobby’s ceiling three stories above. If he had his choice, he’d leave the day-to-day details of the family business to Bates so he could focus on creating new properties and reviving his current ones with fresh ideas.

Bates pushed the button for the elevator that would take them to the top of the tower. The spectacular views would only enhance Amadeus’s cooking. In other words, it was perfect. He glanced at Bates and tried to read anything from the man’s stoic expression. “Did Chef Schlittler seem pleased when you mentioned this space to him?”

“Yes, sir, but he still wants to inspect it personally next week.” Then, with an uncharacteristic tug of his collar, Bates added, “Mr. Kelly, are you sure you want to evict the current tenant? Ms. Mantovani has done an outstanding job of creating a restaurant here already, and she has established this as one of the hottest reservations in town in such a short time.”

“She’s not Amadeus Schlittler.”

The elevator dinged, and the doors parted to let them enter. As the elevator zoomed to the top, Bates continued, “Perhaps it would wiser to invest in local talent rather than bring in a big name.”

“A big name will generate more interest, and therefore more money, than a relative unknown.” He tightened his hand into a fist. “This is business, Bates. Don’t let it get personal. I’ve made my mind up, and nothing is going to change it.”

“Of course, sir. I was just merely making a suggestion.”

The elevator stopped, and the doors opened into an entryway that reminded him of a Tuscan villa, right down to the cracked plaster. Not something Amadeus would like if the décor of his current restaurants was any indication. Adam’s mind immediately started calculating the cost to have it removed.

As he scanned the walls, he spotted a framed cover of last month’s Food and Wine talking about the hottest new chefs in America. And right in the center of the photo was a breaded chicken breast with an arugula salad on top. His stomach dropped. “What was the name of this restaurant again?”

“La Arietta,” Bates replied.

His mouth went dry, and his palms grew damp. Shit!

“Come along, Mr. Kelly.” Bates opened the front door to the dining room. “I expect Ms. Mantovani would like to hear your news before the lunch rush.”

The waitstaff inside froze as he and Bates entered the room. A thin man with overly-gelled black hair and a gray suit approached them. “Ah, Mr. Bates, so good to see you again.”

If the slightly feminine tone to the man’s words didn’t clue Adam into the man’s sexuality, the black eyeliner sealed the deal.

“Good to see you, too, Dax. I hope we’re catching Ms. Mantovani at a good time.”

“Please,” Dax said with a huff and jutted his hip out. “The girl never leaves this place. I’ll get her for you.”

Once Dax disappeared into the kitchen, Bates cleared his throat. “Dax is the maître d’,” he said as though that explained everything.

Adam offered a silent prayer to whatever deity might be listening that this was all just a bad dream, that this was not Lia’s restaurant.

The gods weren’t on his side.

The chef who emerged from the kitchen had the same golden brown curls, the same bright green eyes, the same luscious lips as the woman he’d almost slept with last night. Her smile faded when she saw him. “Adam, what are you doing here?”

Shit, shit, shit, shit!

Bates’s gaze travelled between them. “You two know each other?”

“We met yesterday at his mother’s lake house.”

Adam tried to form coherent words, but his mind was still populating four-letter words. How the hell did someone like Lia land one of the hottest real estate venues in Chicago?

When he continued to remain speechless, Bates stepped in. “Mr. Kelly wanted to speak to you about your lease.”

The corners of her mouth twitched higher into a nervous smile. “I’m ready to sign the renewal whenever you are. As you may have heard, business is booming here.”

It was time to end this agony as quickly as possible. “I’m not renewing your lease.”

There. He said it. Now he was ready to be damned to hell and suffer whatever punishment awaited him.

The color drained from Lia’s face. “Not renewing my lease?” Her bottom lip trembled. “Why?”

In took every ounce of strength not to take her into his arms and comfort her, but he needed to stay in control if he wanted his plan to go smoothly. “Amadeus Schlittler wants to open his restaurant here.”

Her disbelief faded into barely contained rage. The tremulous tone in her voice revealed how hard she fought not to scream at him. “You’re evicting me for him?”

“You said it yourself last night—I’d be a fool to let this opportunity slip through my fingers.” The stark emotion of his words rattled him. He sounded like a complete dick.

Her nostrils flared and the bottom lid of her right eye twitched, but she remained rigidly still otherwise. Her mouth opened and snapped shut several times. Finally she said, “Well, I have two months left on my sublease, and I’m not leaving until then.”

Lia spun around on her heel and marched into the kitchen, her back and arms still ramrod straight. Her flamboyant maître d’ backpedaled several feet before following her. The rest of the wait staff all glared at him as though he’d just kicked the crutch out from under Tiny Tim.

The room temperature seemed to have jumped twenty degrees too high for his comfort. “Let’s go, Bates.”

“Yes, Mr. Kelly.” He waited until they were safely in the elevator before saying, “I take it you were unaware she was your tenant.”